Millionaire celebration!!

[eta2020]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mulligan Riding the elephant in the room is the only way I get to play in this thread. I checked mine at retirement to be worth a 2.5 million dollar annuity. So yes I am happy with my pension check, but I ain't buying the fact it's worth anything but the next months check. So I will just have to live vicariously through others posting here. And yes, I would think a million dollars is a lot of money! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You can pass 2.5 million dollars equity portfolio to your child. You can not pass your pension to your kid. Also that portfolio will "most" likely grow much faster than your pension.

I read articles about pensions being worth millions...... But with above mentioned disadvantages.

SPY with 2.5 million dollars is also way safer than pension of Detroit

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eta2020 You can pass 2.5 million dollars equity portfolio to your child. You can not pass your pension to your kid. Also that portfolio will "most" likely grow much faster than your pension. I read articles about pensions being worth millions...... But with above mentioned disadvantages. SPY with 2.5 million dollars is also way safer than pension of Detroit

I certainly agree with you. About the only positive for me with it besides the COLA is the fact I can't manage the money. If I had no pension and just a big wad of cash I am scared I would be the idiot to try to "goose my returns" and live to regret it.


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[eta2020]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mulligan I certainly agree with you. About the only positive for me with it besides the COLA is the fact I can't manage the money. If I had no pension and just a big wad of cash I am scared I would be the idiot to try to "goose my returns" and live to regret it. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Not to be rude to you... I was just trying to pint out this fundamental difference. I hope you have Federal Government Pension. That should be quite safe.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mulligan If I had no pension and just a big wad of cash I am scared I would be the idiot to try to "goose my returns" and live to regret it.

The other risk is to be ultra conservative and only go with "safe" investments and live to regret it.

As one with no pension I can tell you the "safe" option is far more difficult to resist pursuing than the "goose" option. Middle ground, middle ground...

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eta2020 Not to be rude to you... I was just trying to pint out this fundamental difference. I hope you have Federal Government Pension. That should be quite safe.

It should be pretty safe. In a separate trust fund always prefunded upfront with the contributions and has about 40 Billion in it. Though those pesky state legislatures occasionally try to create ways to mandate certain investments of the funds that always get shot down by the uproar. I don't need it last 100 years just 40 should be fine. If I had to manage your type of asset base, I think I would go crazy watching the daily change in value...I would be one of those widow and orphan investors wanting know where the hell did all the 6% CDs go too.


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[ikubak]

No big celebration here. Becoming a millionaire was very anticlimactic. It took years of LBYM and contributions to IRAs and 401Ks, and we still do the same things today. It's not like winning the lottery where one day you have nothing and the next day you have millions of dollars and lots of new friends and ahem...investment opportunities coming at you.

[scrabbler1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wishin 2B Fishin We just reached them same milestone last year. I don't mean to be a buzz kill, but for me it really got me thinking and made me realize ER still seems hopeless. So we have over a million invested, we also paid off the house last year as well which is around $425K in value. 42/43 years old with no debt, no kids at home and $120K annual income. Seems like reaching a million should make me feel closer to ER........but alas I realize that since the vast majority (850K) is in 401K and Roth IRA accounts we need way, way, way more in taxable accounts to bridge the gap between age 50 and 59.5 when we can get to our qualified accounts.

Part of my ER plan was to redo the allocation of my portfolio between taxable (non-retirement) accounts and retirement accounts because I knew I would be living solely off the former for about 15 years (age 45-59.5) until I could obtain unfettered access to the latter. At the time, I had about 1/3 of my portfolio in the latter but my plan was to cash out my company stock using NUA (Net Unrealized Appreciation) and pay relatively low taxes (LTCG) on nearly all of it. The company stock was about half of the retirement account so overall it was about 1/3 of my overall portfolio. Cashing it out basically reversed the overall ratio to 3/2 taxable and 1/3 retirement, something far more suitable to cover me from age 45 to age 59.5.

I have heard of this 72t rule to gain early access to one's IRA and it remains a Plan B or Plan C for me although as of now there is very little chance I will need to go that route. As I have seen mentioend elsewhere in this forum and in this thread, perhaps that can aid your access to cash to cover you until you turn age 59.5?

[Mo Money]

Damn the torpedoes: I pop the bubbly!

From the Sharpie scrawl written on the side of each cork, kept lovingly hidden far back on a top shelf of my curio cabinet, out of sight to all but me and my significant other:

12/31/04 $1.0MM net worth (Veuve Clicquot)
10/26/06 $1.0MM liquid net worth/HNWI (Veuve Clicquot)
06/01/07 $1.5MM net worth (Mumm)
12/16/10 $1.0MM liquid net worth beyond retirement plans (in portfolio) (Dom Perignon)
02/10/12 Paid off mortgage! (Veuve Clicquot)
08/08/12 $2.0MM liquid net worth (Perrier Jouet in its silly flowered bottle)
09/08/12 $2.5MM net worth (Mumm)
04/10/13 $2.5MM liquid net worth (Moet & Chandon - needed a bit of variety, & on sale!)
05/03/13 $3.0MM net worth (Veuve Clicquot)
10/30/13 $1.0MM in 401K (Mumm)
12/31/13 $3.0MM liquid net worth (Dom Perignon)
02/28/14 $3.5MM net worth (Veuve Clicquot)

(Hiccup!)

[nash031]

After parsing through this thread, I go back on what I said. I am going to celebrate $1MM when we hit it. It does t mean the same as it used to, but it still takes YEARS of discipline and is more than 95%+ of the country will ever accumulate. Life is about celebrating things like this.

[Van-Guard23]

No celebration for my wife and I when we hit 7 figures back in February 2012...we were both deployed in a combat zone and we both said a prayer to convey thanks and a prayer for our continued safety. To this day, we remain amazed that we've hit that number and continue to grow our nest egg...accidental millionaires who remain grateful.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mo Money Damn the torpedoes: I pop the bubbly! From the Sharpie scrawl written on the side of each cork, kept lovingly hidden far back on a top shelf of my curio cabinet, out of sight to all but me and my significant other: 12/31/04 $1.0MM net worth (Veuve Clicquot) 10/26/06 $1.0MM liquid net worth/HNWI (Veuve Clicquot) 06/01/07 $1.5MM net worth (Mumm) 12/16/10 $1.0MM liquid net worth beyond retirement plans (in portfolio) (Dom Perignon) 02/10/12 Paid off mortgage! (Veuve Clicquot) 08/08/12 $2.0MM liquid net worth (Perrier Jouet in its silly flowered bottle) 09/08/12 $2.5MM net worth (Mumm) 04/10/13 $2.5MM liquid net worth (Moet & Chandon - needed a bit of variety, & on sale!) 05/03/13 $3.0MM net worth (Veuve Clicquot) 10/30/13 $1.0MM in 401K (Mumm) 12/31/13 $3.0MM liquid net worth (Dom Perignon) 02/28/14 $3.5MM net worth (Veuve Clicquot) (Hiccup!)

Man, that's a lot of drinking. Celebrating milestones for networth as well as investable portfolio?

I am going to do some Dom Perignon for my 60th birthday, but not any financial milestone. Life is more important than money (but I have posted that so many times).

PS. By the way, I do envy how your stash grows. A factor of 3X from 2006 to 2013? What the heck am I doing with my money? Darn it! Are you 100% in biotech too?

[LOL!]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound PS. By the way, I do envy how your stash grows. A factor of 3X from 2006 to 2013? What the heck am I doing with my money? Darn it! Are you 100% in biotech too?

Clearly, Mo Money is simply following the "LOL!'s Market Timing Newsletter" along with maxing out retirement plan contributions.

To go from $0 to $1 miillion is an infinite increase, but to go from $1 to $2 is only a 100% increase and from $2 to $3 is only a 50% increase. And guess what from $3 to $4 is only a 33% increase. So it gets easier and easier.

[Mo Money]

NW-Bound: I look for every (reasonable) excuse I can get (hiccup).

DP is $150 a bottle -- 1/6666 of my liquid net worth on 12/16/10, and 1/20,000 on 12/31/13. So I did not feel it was too rash. Life is short; my personal philosophy is to quietly toast with the SO (and perhaps do a little happy dance).

I have no kids, the SO has a decent job, and other than the occasional champagne, I LBY(M?)M. I make a decent salary, and had a modest piece of a tech company that exited, long after having given me and my partners some stock in lieu of legal fees owed. (But that is one win among ten losers....) We just live modestly -- otherwise I'd be driven to drink (hiccup).

[NW-Bound]

I guess I have missed out on many chances to celebrate on my milestones, never celebrate a single one. But being of a somber nature, I would be more likely to commiserate the crossing of a milestone on the way down.

And one does not do the above with a bubbly of course. A drink of choice would be a good XO Cognac (substitute your own poison here like a good single malt). One needs a stiff drink to cry into.

And speaking of Cognac, I am going to pour myself a shot now, even though my portfolio just sets a new high today. It's been a while since I have a shot, and this just reminded me.

[jollystomper]

No celebration when we hit 1 million in stocks/bonds/cash (didn't count home equity) a few years ago, just quiet contentment. DW and I reflected a lot on where we came from... and were glad for our parents, who immigrated to the U.S. and sacrificed for a better life for their children. We are glad that they saw it happen for us. The more we gain the more we think about them.

[Calgary_Girl]

Nope, no celebration here either (BUT, it is pretty neat to realize that we passed $1.5 million in investable assets a few months ago and we're only 44 and 42).

DH keeps threatening to buy a new car but then realizes his 13 year old 4Runner only has 130,000 km's on it and comes to his senses! :-)

[FIGuy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nash031 After parsing through this thread, I go back on what I said. I am going to celebrate $1MM when we hit it. It does t mean the same as it used to, but it still takes YEARS of discipline and is more than 95%+ of the country will ever accumulate. Life is about celebrating things like this.

+1

No offense, but I hope I never see such a relative number (compared to the overwhelming majority) as "no big deal".

My opinion is that the 1st million is absolutely the best one. This one has the power to buy much financial peace of mind, protection against working a career one hates, some protection against illness (both through less stress and covering health care), etc. The 100th million matters less. I actually found all of the above benefits well below a million NW, but we're thrifty folks.

For me, the 1st million brings being treated as an accredited investor. Lots more investment options open up at that point. It's one of the least fair aspects of the USA in my view.

[wqo3wt76]

Exactly, many of the best investments are accredited only. Even more important is having the assets to invest in illiquid, long-term deals that provide better returns than wall street assets can really accelerate your portfolio. Liquidity is nice but doesn't come for free.

[LOL!]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIGuy For me, the 1st million brings being treated as an accredited investor. Lots more investment options open up at that point. It's one of the least fair aspects of the USA in my view.

What are these investment options, pray tell? I have only seen more ways for sales guys to sink their teeth into whales.

[eta2020]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LOL! What are these investment options, pray tell? I have only seen more ways for sales guys to sink their teeth into whales.

With just 1/2 million plus portfolio brokerage will answer your phone 1 or 2 rings and if desired will tap dance for you At 1 million you will have personal buddy from local office calling/emailing you.

I found best investments are very very simple cheap / broad based index funds. And the older I was the more I sticked with simplicity. Such investments also don't require me to be Warren Buffett.....